One expert described the lives lost from the coronavirus pandemic as “an epidemic of deaths among the unvaccinated.”

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As the U.S. mourns an unfathomable 1 million COVID-19 deaths, a figure reached Tuesday according to the Johns Hopkins University count, there are myriad reasons for regret. High on that list are the inadequate and even deceptive initial response from the administration of former President Donald Trump, the lack of pandemic readiness by the public health sector, the marginalization that left some communities exposed to the virus, and the political polarization that prompted so many to choose party preference over their own health.

Perhaps no aspect of the crisis has been more lamentable than the rejection of vaccines by millions of Americans, a decision hundreds of thousands of them have paid for with their lives. More than a year after all American adults became eligible for COVID-19 vaccines – April 19, 2021 – 24% of them have failed to get the full regimen, adding up to more than 60 million who are not fully vaccinated. Only about 50% have received a booster shot.

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